Woman who raised Fresno murder victim calls defendant the ‘very worst of humanity’
The Fresno man accused of mutilating and disposing of his murdered roommate’s body was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison on Wednesday, despite pleas from family members that it wasn’t enough.
Lawrence Peter Madrid, 21, pleaded no contest in February to being an accessory to murder and mutilation of human remains.
He and his then-17-year-old girlfriend were implicated in the gruesome murder of 20-year-old Sergio Bonboster in the fall of 2021.
She is charged with Bonboster’s murder and is awaiting prosecution.
Family and friends of Bonboster packed the Fresno County courtroom with many of them providing emotional statements about how Bonboster’s death has changed their lives.
Margaret Bakle, Bonboster’s biological mother, said it was heartbreaking to see her children deal with depression and anxiety since the murder. She, too, has suffered.
“My daily life is madness, filled with hate and anxiety,” she said. “Family gatherings are now just sadness and tears. Sergio was the life of the party.”
Bonboster was remembered as a fun-loving and giving person, who loved his nieces and nephews. He was fond of his curly hair, and so were the girls, Bakle said with a slight smile.
Bakle said Madrid robbed her family of a shining light and for that she will never forgive him.
“The devil comes in many forms and I see him today, standing to the left of me,” she said, staring coldly at the defendant. “Lawrence Madrid, you are the devil and I hate you. You are a murderer and a thief of human life. May you rot in the hell that you have left us in.”
Mona Esparza, who raised Bonboster from the age of 6, said she is tortured by the thoughts of what he went through in his final moments.
“I wonder when he realized he was in mortal danger or what his murderers said to him when they stabbed him 19 times,” she said. “How long was he conscious knowing he was going to die.”
What pains her the most, Esparza said, is knowing he spent the last hours of his life with “the very worst of humanity.”
Police said Bonboster was stabbed 19 times by Madrid’s girlfriend after the two roommates got into a fight inside their apartment near West Emerson and North Hughes avenues.
The coupled tried to hide their crime. They used steak knives they bought at a dollar store to dismembered his body and then tried to wipe away any evidence of blood. They carried his torso to a nearby canal where they burned it and covered it with a tarp. They dumped his legs in an apartment garbage bin, police said.
Family members couldn’t believe that when Bonboster was reported missing, they asked Madrid for his help to find him.
“We searched for six days and Lawrence acted like he knew nothing about what happened to Sergio,” said Savannah Bonboster, Sergio’s sister.
She said she still has trouble thinking about what they did to her brother’s body.
“You don’t think this happens in real life, it’s like something that only happens in the movies,” she said. “He dumped half of Sergio in a canal and the rest in the trash and he gets three years. My brother was just starting to live his life, and Lawrence gets three years. It is a slap in the face.”
Judge Gabriel Brickey said it was difficult to comprehend the depth of pain and loss the family has experienced.
“And there is nothing the court does that will replace that,” Brickey said.
He gave Madrid the maximum allowed, three years and eight months. And he added that Madrid demonstrated great violence and a high degree of cruelty and callousness.
“He is a serious danger to society,” Brickey said.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Elana Smith prosecuted the case and Emily Takao was the defense attorney.
This story was originally published March 16, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
